Hard Stones
by hellosaidi
Summary: So this picks up from the end of season seven. The ending made me so sad I had to write a story to make it better. Its all about Meredith and Derek trying to create a proper family and family home with Zola. Enjoy and please review :
1. A Quiet Night

**A/N: So yeah, how this works is basically the chapters switch points of view, this one is from Meredith's point of view but sometimes they will be from Derek's point of view.**

**So this picks up from the season finale of season 7. In case you've forgotten how it ended here is a quick summary:**

**Cristina learns she's six weeks pregnant. She doesn't want children. Owen, however, does. He tries to convince her that they can make this work. Cristina says she made an appointment to terminate the pregnancy. Owen can't believe she's doing this without including him in the decision. He tells her to get out their house.**

**Meredith gets the news that they are free to take Zola home, so she does just that. Cristina stops by to break the news of her pregnancy and the fallout that followed. Derek hasn't been answering his phone all day, he's mad at Meredith for messing with the trial. He has no idea Zola is theirs. Derek is camped out in his unfinished home in the country. He's sleeping across from the area he's mapped out for a crib. The very final scenes show Cristina sleeping on Meredith's couch and Meredith sitting in the bedroom clutching onto Zola.**

**This picks up straight from the ending so that's why I included a summary.**

**Hope you like it****enjoy!**

_A quiet night_

[ ]

It'd been hours since I had come home from the hospital with Zola and I was still trying to get her to sleep. I was definitely not used to this; rocking Zola on my hip I tried calling Derek for the fifth time, only to be forwarded to voice mail once again. To say I was getting annoyed was an understatement. As I went to re dial his number, refusing to give up until he picked up, I heard someone fidgeting with the lock on the front door downstairs. Immediately, my first thoughts were that it was a burglar and I unconsciously clutched Zola closer to my chest. I waited a few minutes before standing up to go and see who it was. Something made me hope that it was Derek, but I knew deep down that it wasn't likely.

I cautiously made my way downstairs just in case it was someone I didn't know. I breathed a sigh of relief, one that I didn't know I'd been holding, when I realised who was at the door.

"Lexie?" I asked, just to make sure that it was actually her. When I was, I chuckled quietly at her struggling with her keys, frustrated with herself at the fact that she couldn't get in. At least I wasn't the only one tonight.

"Meredith!" she called, "I can't find the right key. Can you let me in?" she asked, with her hands pressed up against the glass in defeat.

I walked towards her, still carrying Zola on my hip, and unlocked the door for her.

"Thanks Mer. Hey Zola," she greeted, kissing Zola on the head as she walked through the door and into the dimly lit hallway. "So they let you take her home?"

"Yeah, but I need some help setting up the crib, if you wouldn't mind," I asked; I didn't want to ask for help but now I was realising that it'd be easier if I did.

"Can't Derek do it?" she asked curiously. Obviously, mine and Derek's argument hadn't been heard by anyone, or the nurses hadn't managed to tell the whole hospital yet.

My voice softened as I answered. "He's not here," I admitted. "I don't know where he is. We had an argument and," I could feel my eyes starting to fill with tears. "And, he won't even answer my calls," I murmured. Lexie leaned in to pick up Zola from my arms, giving me chance to wipe the stray tears that had fallen onto my cheeks.

It suddenly hit me, "What if Derek never comes back?" I asked, "What if I end up being a crappy mom, just like my mom?" My eyes soon gave way and tears came rushing down my cheeks, despite my constant tries to wipe them away.

Lexie looked at me with concerned eyes, "He's coming back Meredith, don't worry... I'll call Jackson, see how far away he is and I'm sure he'll help you fix up your crib."

"You're not going to be a crappy mom Mer." Cristina said, appearing from the living room obviously having overheard our conversation.

"Cristina? I thought you were asleep on the couch?" I said, reaching for a tissue from the box beside the door and dabbing at my eyes.

"I can't sleep with you out here moaning," she said, but the small smirk on her face told me she was only joking. "Zola is lucky to have a mom like you. You're going to be a great mom, and Lexie's right, Derek will come back. He just needs some time to think things through," she assured me.

She was right; I knew she was right, well more like I hoped she was right. I just had to stay strong; not just for me but for Zola now as well. "Thanks," I said as I took Zola back off Lexie.

[ ]

Half an hour later, Jackson had arrived and we all crowded in my bedroom, staring at the pieces of the crib.

"So where shall I set up this crib?" Jackson asked.

"At the end of my bed, thanks Jackson," I replied.

"No problem," he answered and began to grab the pieces to fit them together. Before I even had chance to think that it should be Derek doing this, I was pulled back down to the kitchen by Cristina and Lexie.

The rest of the night was pretty quiet, Lexie helped me feed and bath Zola so that she was ready for bed as soon as Jackson finished. Everyone was in bed by eleven.

I laid Zola down in her crib and tucked her up in her blanket, making sure that she was warm enough but wouldn't overheat during the night. "It's going to be alright Zola," I whispered. "We'll get through this," I promised, trying to reassure myself just as much as the baby in front of me. My daughter.

[ ]

**A/N: Please review, I'd love to hear what you think, any feedback is really appreciated**

**Lucy x**


	2. She did what she thought was best

**Thanks for all your reviews this next chapter is from Derek's point of view. Hope you like it enjoy!**

**Also I'm not entirely sure where this story is going, but I promise it will get happier.**

**Please review **

_She did what she thought was best_

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I stared at the sky through the roof of our house; _she can't just mess with my trial like that and get away with it, _I thought to myself, trying to rationalise what was going on in my head. What I had just done. I heard some rustling; a fox in the forest maybe, I ignored it and focused on the stars above me.

"Derek?" I heard someone call after just a few minutes.

"Mark? Is that you?" I replied, recognising my best friend's voice even though I couldn't see him just yet.

"There you are, I got lost, it's confusing around here in the dark," he shouted, as I saw his form come slightly into focus through the trees.

"I see you brought a sleeping bag."

"Yep, I thought I'd find you here so I came prepared," he said with a wide grin spreading across his face.

"So you heard what happened then?" I asked as he walked nearer towards me.

"I heard," he said softly as he rolled out his sleeping bag next to mine, laying down on it with his arms behind him head. "Nice house you got here," he said in a sarcastic tone as he looked around.

"Ha ha, yeah well you just wait, once it's finished I guarantee you will be jealous," I replied while picturing the finished building in my head, it was still perfect and it still would be _ours_.

"Not if you don't have anyone to share it with I won't," he added.

I sighed, as much as I hated to admit it, he was right; this house wouldn't be a home without Meredith. "I know you don't want to hear this Derek, but I think you've made a huge mistake. Look at me, I lost Lexie and now I can't get her back; today she told me that she loves me, but she doesn't _want_ to love me." I stared into the stars as he continued to talk to me. "And what about Zola? You're almost ready to adopt this adorable little girl; they won't let you adopt her if you carry on like this," he said.

"But she's not even sorry," I said. "She said if she could do it all again she would have still done the same thing." My eyes started to fill with tears. "She messed up my trial Mark, she can't do that," I said almost shouting.

"She did what she thought was best for Adele; she wanted Adele to get better and for the chief to not have to worry about her any more. She did what she thought was best."

Again he was right; as much as it killed me to say it I knew he was right. _Maybe I should forgive her, for Zola's sake,_ I thought. _But she has got to learn she can't put our trial on the line like that, _the other side of my mind argued back. She's messed it all up and now

I'm not even sure if we'll be able to continue with it. All our time and hard work wasted.

"So what are you going to do?" Mark asked.

"I don't know. I'll talk to her tomorrow about it."

"Still going to camp out here for the night?"

"Yep, are you staying?" I asked, already knowing what his answer would be. It was Mark Sloane after all, the man I'd know for years who hated camping out.

"No! It's too cold out here; I'm going back home to my nice warm bed. See you tomorrow Derek."

"Night Mark," I said as he picked up his sleeping bag and walked away. "Thanks," I said genuinely, glad that he had come to talk to me tonight. But now I was left alone with my thoughts, wondering what I should do as I looked up to the clear night sky, the stars shining back down at me. Wondering what Meredith was doing right now and how I was going to fix things.

[ ]

**Please review, I'd love to hear what you think, any feedback is really appreciated **

**Lucy x**


	3. No Meredith, it's my fault

**Thanks for all the previous reviews, they really mean a lot. I will try and update as often as I can, and hopefully my chapters are going to be longer because I know those last two were really short and this one is quite short too. Anyway also just to let you know I am English so sorry if I use any English words or spellings. And I only realised recently that Cristina's name is not spelt with an 'h', so sorry if I accidently spell it with an 'h' sometimes :/**

**So now we're back to Meredith's point of view.**

**Anyway, enjoy and please review **

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"Cristina! Are you coming? We need to leave now" I called up the stairs. I heard her mumble a reply, but I was too focused on Zola to register what she said. I had to get in early today to drop Zola off at the nursery before rounds.

"I'm here, I'm here. Let's go." She said as she came rushing down the stairs.

I picked up Zola's bags and handed them to Cristina.

"No, I'm not getting into all this baby stuff. I don't want Owen seeing me with a baby.

"Cristina, please. At least just carry them to the car. I'll take them when we get to the hospital."

She reluctantly picked up the bags and headed to the car. "So when is your appointment to terminate the pregnancy?" I said as I started the car.

"Mer, I don't want to talk about this."

"Well you're in my car so you either talk about it or you can walk to work." I saw her look out the window, into the pouring Seattle rain, considering my offer.

Reluctantly she started talking to me. "Today, at twelve o'clock."

"Are you seriously going through with this Cristina?" I asked, hoping she'd change her mind.

"Yes, and no matter what you say, you can't change my mind."

After that I kept quiet, hoping that maybe soon she'd realize what she was doing and cancel the appointment.

We soon reached the hospital and Cristina ran off without even saying a word. I got out the car and opened the back door to unbuckle Zola. I lifted her up into my arms and rested her on my hip, I grabbed all her bags from the boot in the other hand and started to walk towards the hospital. As soon as I entered the hospital I saw the Chief and I tried to ignore him.

I obviously wasn't good at being discrete. _Well when you're stumbling through a hospital with a mumbling baby, I guess you're not very discrete. _He came running up to me and asked if I needed any help.

"No, I'll manage." I said, trying to cut the conversation short.

He didn't look convinced. "Here Meredith, give me the bags and you carry Zola."

I reluctantly handed him the bags and we started walking to the elevator. "Derek didn't tell me you took Zola home."

I kept my eyes down and my voice softened as I replied. "He doesn't know I took Zola home."

"Well didn't he notice last night, at home?"

"Seeing as he didn't come home last night, no. He wouldn't reply to my calls either. That's why he's not with me now. I don't know where he is."

The Chief looked down and I could see he was trying to change the conversation. "Well I have a good surgery this afternoon if you want to scrub in?"

"It's ok," I said, "You don't have to feel sorry for me. It's my fault he's not talking to me."

"No Meredith, it's my fault, I pressured you into putting Adele on the trial. I pressured you into giving her the best treatment." He said. I stood there silently, thinking about what to say.

We were soon on our floor and started to head to the nursery. We dropped off Zola and all her bags, and then started to head back to the elevator. "Don't mention Zola to Derek ok? I want to tell him myself, when he's calmed down a bit."

[ ]

**Please review, I'd love to hear what you think, any feedback is really appreciated **

**Lucy x**


	4. You'll just pretend to forgive me?

**Thank you to everyone that review/favourite/added the story to their alert list. It means a lot to me. A lot of you said again that the chapters were short. I was just wondering what you guys would prefer:**

**Less updates but longer chapters.**

**Or more updates and short chapters?**

**This one is quite short again... sorry :/**

**Anyway let me know, enjoy and please review **

_You'll just pretend to forgive me?_

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I woke up to the rain pouring on my face. I was soaked. My sleeping bag was dripping wet and my clothes were no better.

I quickly got up and looked out onto the city. _This is going to be a great home when it's done._

Without wasting too much time I decided the best thing was to go to the hospital, so I could change into my scrubs. I jumped into the car and started the engine.

A smile brushed across my face as I thought about going to see Zola. The way she smiled and laughed when I tickled her.

By the time I was at the hospital the rain had almost stopped. I changed into my scrubs and towel dried my hair, and then went straight upstairs to Zola's room to see if she was awake.

My heart stopped when I saw her empty crib.

"Where's Zola" I asked a passing nurse.

"Zola? Someone took her home yesterday." She replied.

"What? Who?"

"I'm sorry I don't know, she's not one of my patients. You can go and ask at the nurses' station."

I ran over to the nurses' station and asked the person sitting at the desk. "Zola, where's Zola? Room 209, where is she?"

"Meredith Grey took her home last night."

"Took her home? What? Why?"

"She was ready to go home. How come you don't know about this?"

I avoided having to explain the long story by running off to find the Chief. I ran around the hospital frantically until a scrub nurse told me he wasn't in yet. I tried to think things through in my head. _It's all my fault; I wouldn't answer her calls when she needed my help._

[ ]

"Meredith?" I called as I saw her and the Chief coming out of the elevator.

"Derek." She said in an uncertain tone.

"Right well, I must be off now. I've got to go and check on my patients" Said the Chief, as though he was trying to hide something.

"Look Meredith, can we talk somewhere a bit more private?" I asked, not wanting the whole hospital to hear about our lives.

I followed her into an on call room and shut the door. "So you took Zola home last night." I said quietly, hoping this wouldn't turn into a shouting match.

"Who told you?" She asked.

"I went to see her and the nurses said you took her home last night."

"Oh, I was going to tell you Derek, in fact I was trying to tell you. But you weren't answering my calls."

"I know, I'm sorry Mer. If I'd realised..."

"If you'd realised what Derek." She said, raising her voice. "If you'd realised that our daughter spent her first night at home without you?"

"Look Meredith, I realise your frustration but please, hear me out." I said. She quietened down as I kept talking. "Can we put this all behind us?" I said, wondering if it was the right thing to say.

"Put it all behind us? Sure, but what about the fact that I ruined your trial? You'll never forgive me for that. You'll say you've forgiven me but I know deep down you never will."

"But I know you did what you thought was best, and the more I realise that, the more I forgive you." I said. "I will forgive you Mer, it just might take me some time."

She looked up at me to see if I meant it. Her eyes met mine and I remembered how much I loved her. _Her soft brown hair and her cute little nose. _

"So in the mean time you'll just pretend to forgive me?" She asked me.

I wasn't sure what to say.

She opened the door and left the room, slamming the door closed behind her. I brushed my hand through my damp hair and thought about what she said. _"You'll just pretend to forgive me?"_ She was right; our relationship couldn't be built on pretending. I had to forgive her before I could apologise to her. _It was going to be a long day._

[ ]

**Please review, I'd love to hear what you think, any feedback is really appreciated **

**Lucy x**


	5. Sort it out Meredith

**So this is chapter 5, sorry it's been so long since I updated, I've had a really busy week. Anyway I think I will keep the chapters short, with hopefully more frequent updates. **

**This is from Meredith's point of view, picking up from the end of the last chapter. Enjoy **

_Sort it out Meredith_

[ ]

He thought we could just continue with him pretending to forgive me? What was he thinking? I ran off to rounds, already 5 minutes late. "Doctor Grey," Bailey said as I entered the room. "How nice of you to join us."

Derek entered soon after me, yet Bailey said nothing to him. When everybody had arrived that needed to be there, April started presenting the patient. "Jason Matthews, twenty-seven years old suffered in a car crash accident yesterday, caused by a driver on the phone crashing into the front of Jason's car. Jason suffered from a minor concussion, a dislocation on his right leg, which Dr. Torres corrected last night, and also a fracture to his left ulna. He will go into surgery later today with Dr. Torres to place a metal rod into the bone to repair the fracture. We hope to discharge him later in the week once his arm starts to heal."

We all shuffled in to the next room and Cristina began to present the next patient. "David Holmes, thirty-nine years old, yesterday David drove into the front of another patient's car while on the phone. David dislocated his right shoulder, which has now been put back into place by Dr. Torres, and he will be going through a routine check up today to make sure the shoulder has stayed in place over night. If everything is ok he will be discharged this afternoon."

Once rounds was over everyone went their separate ways. I tried to catch up with Cristina as she headed towards the clinic.

"Grey!" Bailey called, as I caught up with Cristina. "Grey!"

"Bailey's calling you," Cristina said.

"I know, just ignore her," I replied.

Bailey soon caught up with me and tapped me on my shoulder. I turned around and bit my lip, knowing why she wanted to talk to me.

"Why are you ignoring me Grey?" she asked.

"Ignoring you?" I laughed, worried she was about to shout at me. "I'm not ignoring you Doctor Bailey."

"Yes you are. Is everything all right between you and Shepherd?"

"Everything is fine Doctor Bailey, honest."

"I know when you're lying to me Grey, don't lie to me."

"Everything is fine," I said as I turned around and started to walk away.

She soon caught up with me again and started walking along side me. "How's Zola?" she asked. "I know what it's like to look after a toddler on your own. Its hard work," she admitted sympathetically.

"Its fine Doctor Bailey, honest," I said, hoping that she would drop the subject. I tried to speed up my pace, in hope that she would give up and let me be.

"Grey!" she said, pulling at my scrubs to stop me walking away. It worked. I stopped walking through the hallway and faced Bailey, quickly glancing over my shoulder to see Christina walking away, leaving me alone with whatever Bailey had to say to me.

"If you don't want my help then that's fine, but at least listen to me for one minute. You need to sort this out before they take Zola away from you. Sort it out Meredith," she said as she, too, left me standing alone in the corridor.

[ ]

Thanks so much to Beth Please review and I'll hopefully update again soon


	6. I forced Zola into her arms

**So this is the next chapter, I realise this one is mega short and I'm really sorry but I hope to post another chapter soon.**

**This chapter is from Meredith's point of view, so enjoy :) **

_**I forced Zola into her arms**_

I placed my tray down on the table and sat down next to Cristina. "So," I began. "How was your appointment?"

She didn't reply.

"Cristina? Did you go to your appointment?" I asked.

"No," she sulked. "But you can't tell Owen."

I couldn't believe her. "Really?" I asked, wondering what had changed her mind, something that she so rarely did. She muttered something but I was unable to hear her as she spoke so quietly, so asked her to repeat what she said.

"Seeing you with Zola, I don't know. I'm still not sure I even want this baby."

"You do want this baby Cristina, trust me. You may not realise it yet, but you do want this baby." I said. "You want to come and see Zola with me?" I asked, hoping she would say yes.

"Fine, but only for five minutes, I have to go and find a good surgery." She agreed reluctantly.

"Ok," I said quickly so she couldn't take back her answer, surprised at her response.

We didn't speak any more about it; in complete silence ate our lunch . Then, once we had finished, we headed up to the nursery, where Zola was.

"When are you going to tell Owen?" I asked as we neared the nursery doors to break the silence that had fallen on us.

"Owen? Not until I'm ready and I'm sure I want this baby." I sighed at the fact that she was keeping so much from Owen, but knew there was nothing I could do to make her tell him.

I ran over to Zola and picked her up, into my arms as soon as I spotted her. I had only been away from her for the morning but I missed her smile and her soft cheeks.

Slowly, Cristina came wandering over slowly to see her. She was reluctant to hold her at first, but I forced Zola into her arms. As I let go of Zola I saw Owen walking past the nursery. He'd seen Cristina with Zola. Maybe he'd realise she was thinking about having this baby. I hoped for his sake that he did.

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**Thanks for reading :) please review, let me know what you think. :) thanks.**


	7. I don't need your help Derek

**So this is chapter 7, it's from Derek's view. Hope you enjoy it And please review, thanks **

_I don't need your help Derek, I'm fine on my own_

[ ]

Having just lost a nine-teen year old patient who had come into the OR after falling off his motorcycle, I decided I needed cheering up, even though he had been pretty much DOA as soon as he entered the hospital. I thought the best thing to do would be to go and see Zola as I hadn't seen her in a while and she normally cheered me up. As Meredith had taken her home last night, I figured she'd be in the nursery. I headed up there, deciding to take the stairs instead of the elevator, and was about to walk through the door when I saw Owen looking in through the window. I walked over to talk to him to see what he was looking at. I quickly peered in the window, knowing immediately why he was staring, as though in some sort of trance; Meredith was in the nursery watching while Cristina held Zola. Cristina's back was to us, so she couldn't see us but Meredith was facing us and I already knew that she had spotted us, even if she was refusing to look up towards where we stood.

"You think she's smiling?" asked Owen. I shrugged my shoulders, who knew what went through the heads of the 'twisted sisters'. He didn't wait for me to say anything, instead he carried on speaking. "Yesterday she told me she was pregnant... She was going to terminate the pregnancy, and now she has a toddler in her arms." He sighed. "How can they change so quickly?"

"She probably just needed some time to think about it." I said, hoping I was right.

I looked in at Zola, I could barely see her with Cristina's back to me but I could tell she was smiling from the way Meredith was looking at her. I sighed, _would anything ever be normal between me and Mer again?_ I hoped so, it had only been a day and I was already missing her so much that it physically hurt.

I stood there with Owen for a good ten minutes watching Meredith and Cristina playing with Zola. As soon as I saw Cristina start to put Zola down I started to walk away. "I'm sure she's made the right decision." I told Owen while walking away.

He nodded back at me in reply and then started to walk the other way.

[ ]

Having just discharged my last patient for the evening, I changed out of my scrubs into a simple pair of denim jeans and a casual pale blue shirt, ready to finally go home. As I waited for the elevator, I saw Meredith taking the stairs with Zola in her arms. "You know, you don't have to take the stairs just to avoid me," I called, running over to her and offering to carry the bags that she had managed to balance on her shoulder.

"I don't need your help Derek, I'm fine on my own," she snapped.

Regardless, I followed her into the parking lot where she had parked her car earlier this morning. After a few moments of struggling she reluctantly allowed me to help her put Zola in her seat and I watched her as she fastened Zola's seatbelt securely.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Cristina appeared from behind me and got into the passenger side of the car. I gave Zola a quick kiss, shut the car door and then watched them drive off.

I headed for my own car, which was parked slightly further down, and drove off in the direction of 'home'. As soon as I set off, it started to rain. _Just my luck,_ I thought to myself, hoping that it would stop soon and be dry by the time I went to sleep later tonight.

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**So yeah, please review; let me know what you think **


	8. Meredith! Watch out!

**So this is the next chapter, enjoy and let me know what you think.**

_Meredith! Watch out!_

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"So did you get any surgeries today?" I asked, trying to break the silence that had started to fill the car.

"No, I've just been in the clinic all day, with runny noses and stomach aches," she complained. "Did you get any surgeries?" she asked.

"No, but I've got a good one with Bailey tomorrow, a stomach excision and she might even let me do it solo," I boasted, trying to get rid of the awkwardness between us by bantering.

"Lucky you, I doubt I'll get any surgeries now seeing as Teddy's leaving," she grumbled. "I still can't believe it!"

"Haven't you heard?" I asked confused, this news was some that _had_ made its way around the hospital, unlike my own. "She's staying." After the information had sunk in, I laughed at Cristina's face; it was a mixture of relief and happiness.

"Thank god!" She said.

Once again, I laughed at Cristina but soon stopped as Zola started crying, just as we came out of the hospital car park. "Can you hand her her bottle?" I asked, wanting to soothe her as soon as possible but, obviously, I was unable to as I was driving. "It's in the front pouch of her bag." Cristina reached into the bag and pulled out one of Zola's bottles holding it so Zola could reach it with her hands and then pulled out her cell phone.

"Do you think I should call Owen?" she asked, turning back around in her seat.

"What? And tell him you're keeping the baby? No Cristina, you can't say something like that over the phone; you have to tell him to his face. I'd wait until tomorrow," I advised.

She sighed and put the phone back in her pocket. Zola started crying again as we came up to the main junction, slowing down to a stop as the light turned red. I used the opportunity to turn around to see that she had accidentally dropped her bottle on the floor. Cristina soon realised what had happened too, twisting in her seat she reached back and picked up Zola's bottle. She put it back in Zola's hands and turned back, switching on the radio. I turned it straight back off as I was trying to focus on driving; I didn't need any distractions right now. Cristina sighed again and gave me a mean look.

"I need to focus on driving," I told her.

Zola started crying again as the light changed to green and I started to cross the junction, looking in both directions just to make sure that it was clear. I was trying to focus but I couldn't with a six-month-old screaming in the back. "Cristina, can you hand Zola her toy," I asked. "It's in the bottom of her bag," I added after she had nodded her head, picking up the bag and starting to rummage through the top.

I took a moment to quickly glance back at her, just to see if she had found the small stuffed animal, as I forward. It was only a second, but if I had been paying more attention I would've seen it.

"Meredith! Watch out!" she shouted, she had seen it instead of me. I tried to brake as quickly as possible but all of a sudden a bright light was coming directly towards us. I felt a crash as something smashed into the side of the car and then nothing. Nothing but black.

[ ]

"Meredith? Are you all right?" I heard Cristina shout bringing me back from the darkness. My vision slowly refocused but it was still blurred and, except for the constant ringing in my ear, everything I heard seemed distant. I mumbled something to let her know I could hear her. "Meredith, I'm calling an ambulance. Just stay calm."

I tried to move my left arm to wipe my hair from my face. "Cristina, my arm," I murmured, panic rising inside of me. "I can't move my arm," I said little louder so that she heard me.

She reached across and felt my arm and shoulder. "You've dislocated your shoulder. Just keep it still." I nodded and instead lifted my right arm to wipe my hair from my face and that's when I felt it; the warm sticky liquid which was running down my head and now on my hand. My head was bleeding.

"Cristina. My head, it's bleeding." She tilted my head so that she could get a better look and handed me her jacket helping me to guide on top of the wound so I could put pressure on the wound.

"So what exactly happened?" I asked as she dialled 911. Gradually, all five of my senses were coming back to me, back to normal, and the buzzing in my ear was now fading.

"Some idiotic driver drove a red light and straight into the side of our car, I think he was talking on the phone. We swerved to the right a bit but luckily no one else was around for us to hit. The idiot drove off though without even checking to see if we were ok, I couldn't get a licence plate."

I nodded my head, letting what Cristina had just explained sink in; we had been in a car crash, I probably had a dislocated shoulder and a head wound but help was on the way, Cristina seemed to be fine and...

"Zola!" I thought out loud. How could I forget Zola was in the car? She wasn't crying, which I took as a good sign, I couldn't bring myself to think of the worst.

As Cristina got off the phone I told her to check on Zola. "She looks fine," she assured. "A few cuts, but she doesn't look like she's in pain; she's drinking which is a good sign."

I let out a sigh of relief, resting my head against the seat and waited for the ambulance to arrive. I tried to stay awake but the calm darkness was lulling me back into its tight grip, I couldn't fight it, slowly I slipped into peaceful embrace despite Cristina's yells to keep me awake. The darkness made the ache in my head hurt less so I welcomed it.

[ ]

**Please review, thanks.**


	9. Agreeing to wait for Meredith together

**So this is chapter 9, it's from Derek's point of view. Hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think Please review**

_Agreeing to wait for Meredith together_

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After leaving the hospital, I had made my way back to mine and Meredith's unfinished home deciding it would be better to once again sleep under the stars. Eventually I had drifted off into a fitful sleep only to be woken up to the sound of my pager. I wasn't on call tonight but I thought I better look at it anyway; it was a 911. I'd only been asleep for an hour at the most, but I reluctantly dragged myself out of the makeshift bed, threw on yesterday's clothes and headed for the hospital.

The journey was fast, luckily there was no traffic at this time of night. _Well, early morning, _I thought to myself as it was now 3:27 AM. As soon as I had found a parking spot, I quickly got out of the car, still wondering why I had been paged as I made my way inside the hospital.

"Chief?" I called as I saw him by the elevator, hoping that he would give me the answers I needed.

"Derek," he replied, I knew immediately that something bad had happened just by the tone of his voice. I tried to push all the negative thoughts to the back of my mind but some kept seeping forward as the silence between us grew, neither of us knowing what to say.

"You paged?" I questioned. "I'm not on call," I reminded him.

"It's Meredith," he stated simply. My heart stopped as the words processed in my head, my whole world was turning upside down and all it took was those two words.

"Meredith? What happened, is she all right? What about Zola?" I asked.

"They had a car crash," he began, the panic building up inside me; they _had _to be fine. "Zola's fine she just needs a few stitches, she's in the ER with Robbins now who's fixing her up. But Meredith's in surgery; she has a dislocated shoulder and her left arm is broken. She also has glass cuts in her head from banging it on the window during the crash, Dr. Nelson is operating on her at the moment in OR2, and Torres has just finished up fixing her shoulder," he explained, as we continued walking into the elevator.

"She was with Cristina during the crash; Christina is fine, she just has a minor cut on her arm which I think someone is going to look at soon. But, according to Cristina, a driver drove into the side of Meredith's car; he skipped a red light which caused the crash. She said it looked as though he was on the phone."

"A license plate?" I asked. "Did she get his license plate?" Wanting to make sure whoever had done this to my two girls would pay for it.

"No, but the police are checking the speed cameras now for any dangerous drivers," he reassured.

"How long until Meredith will be out of surgery?" I asked changing the subject, knowing there was nothing more I could do but sit and wait; I knew I wouldn't even be allowed to see Meredith in the OR.

"She'll be in there for at least another hour."

"How about Zola? When can I go see her?" I asked.

"She's still in the ER but unfortunately social services have been called and they're taking her away. I'm not sure what is going to happen with her, but you will have to sort things out with Meredith and prove to them that you can do this." My heart sank at the thought of not being able to see Zola again, and it was all my fault.

As we headed for the ER, I saw Cristina still waiting for someone to look at her arm. "Will you page me when Meredith gets out of surgery?" I said as I walked over to where she sat.

"Derek! Will you take a look at my arm quickly so I can go get a coffee?" she called.

"Sure," I said as I sat down to have a look. Silently, I took a look at her arm and then grabbed a suture kit from a nearby trolley. She only needed a few stitches, six at the most, but I decided to take this time to talk to her.

"Cristina there's something you need to know," I began, not knowing if she wanted me to know what I knew. She looked at me as if telling me to continue. "Owen told me you were pregnant and..."

"He told you? Has he told anyone else?" she practically shouted, but kept her voice quiet enough as to not attract the attention of anyone walking by.

"I don't know, but the point is, he said you were going to terminate the pregnancy. Did you do that? If not I'm going to have to check the baby is all right and I promise I'll be here whatever you decide to do, okay?"

Surprisingly, she agreed to let me take a look at the baby, silently confessing that she hadn't terminated it and was going to carry on the pregnancy; if she was keeping the baby or not was a completely different story but for now it didn't matter. Without words, I finished the last of her sutures and wrapped a bandage around her arm for a little added support and protection.

"Thank you," she mumbled sincerely, as we made our way to a gynaecology room together. The rest of the way there was silent, she was just like Meredith; she needed time to think things through and to understand everything. It made her understand that she wasn't alone.

Twenty minutes later, we walked back out of the room; although I hadn't done an ultrasound since my medical training, everything looked normal as far as I could see. I signed her discharge papers, making her promise to make a proper appointment with an OBGYN just to make sure that the baby was actually fine. I tidied up all the equipment I had used and then followed her to get some coffee, inaudibly agreeing to wait for Meredith together.

[ ]

**Please review, it means the world to me And thanks so much to Beth for being my Beta for this whole story **


	10. That home is supposed to be our home

**So chapter 10 thanks for all your reviews up to now, I'm glad you all like it it's seriously great to hear from you so please keep reviewing **

**This is from Mer's point of view, so enjoy **

_That home is supposed to be our home_

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I woke up to an empty room. Beside me I heard the heart monitor steadily beating to my right, the slow drip of the IV that lead down to my arm and the shuffling of feet outside of my door. I was in the hospital. I swivelled my head to the side as my eyes began to refocus and I looked around. I was definitely in a hospital.

I tried to focus on remembering what happened; I remembered that I'd been in a car crash, but I couldn't remember much else. As I sat up and reached for my pager Derek came through the door, holding a medical chart which I assumed was mine.

"Hey," he greeted, laying the folder on the table at the end of my bed and standing at the foot of my bed.

I didn't reply, instead I sulked down into my pillow and kept my eyes down. But I knew it wouldn't make him go away any sooner, talking to him may be the only way to get him to go. "Have you seen Zola?" I asked him reluctantly, but also wanting to know how both she and Cristina were.

"No," he replied. "Chief told me she's fine, but social services have taken her away." Again I didn't reply. I couldn't believe that Zola had been taken away from me, _us_, just after being given to us a few days ago.

"Have you seen Cristina?" I asked, wondering whether I should mention that she was pregnant.

"Yes, I was just with her. She's fine." He replied. I didn't ask about the baby just in case he didn't know about it yet.

"You know, when I was paged today I was reluctant to get up," Derek admitted, as he broke the stillness that had fallen upon us. I knew that he wasn't finished but I also knew that he was about to bring up the conversation I had been dreading since we had first argued, I decided just to keep quiet and let him talk. "But when I found out you had been in a car crash, my heart stopped. The thought of losing you petrified me," he said, while walking closer towards my bed. "You can forget me ever trying to forgive you, I have nothing to forgive you for; you did what you thought was best for Adele and I understand that now, I was just too mad at the thought of loosing what we had done on the trial together to see that. Sleeping in our unfinished home on my own, in a sleeping bag, just isn't right; that home is supposed to be _our _home. I need you Meredith, without you my life is incomplete and barely worth living." He paused as he gathered up his thoughts and looked me directly in the eye. "Meredith, please, forgive _me_," he whispered. "Look, I know you're not the kind of person that makes a decision quickly, so I'll let you think about it. Page me when you want to talk to me," he said as he started to leave the room.

The door slammed shut as he left, leaving me with nothing other than my own heart beat to listen to. I had no idea what to do, or what to say, to respond to the speech he had just given me. Would it really be that easy to forgive each other and move on_?_

Thankfully I wasn't alone for too long, soon after Derek had left, Lexie came in and started to flick through the papers in my medical chart.

"Lexie!" I almost shouted, relieved that I could ask someone what happened. "What exactly happened to me?"

"You were in a car crash; you dislocated your left shoulder and broke your left arm is broken. You also had some glass cuts in your head, from when you banged it against your window but Dr. Nelson seems to have fixed them up and everything looks good. We're keeping you in the hospital tonight, just so we can monitor your progress, but if everything still good in the morning, hopefully we can discharge you tomorrow."

I looked down to the cast on my arm. _No more surgeries for a good six weeks then. _I said to myself, sighing at just the thought of it. What was I supposed to at home? Alone.

"How are you feeling?" she asked and I wasn't sure if it was the doctor side of her talking or the sisterly side.

"Fine, no pain," I said.

"Good," she replied. "If you need _anything_ Mer just page me. I have to go and prep a patient for surgery now, but I'll come back later to check on you."

I smiled and thanked her as she left the room, glad that she had come to check on me even though she was busy. But now I was alone again. Alone with all my thoughts.

[ ]

**Hope you enjoyed it please review, it means the world to me **


	11. Why was I even thinking about this?

**A/N: Chapter 11 Thanks so much for all the reviews so far, I love hearing what you think about it please keep reviewing **

**So this is front Meredith's point of view again, so enjoy **

_Why was I even thinking about this?_

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After being asleep for what felt like an hour, I was woken up to the sound of Cristina flicking through my chart at the end of my bed.

"Hey Mer," she said, noticing that I was awake, "how are you feeling?"

"Fine, just a bit tired," I replied honestly. "What about you? Did you get the baby checked out?"

"Yes, everything is fine; I saw Derek in the ER and he checked everything out for me and said it looked fine to him but he made me book an appointment with an OBGYN just in case."

"Oh, so you told Derek?" I asked.

"No I didn't, Owen did," she said while putting down my chart, not saying anything more on the subject. "So have you spoken to Derek yet?" she asked.

"Yeah, he came in earlier, said he couldn't live without me, he understood why I did what I did, and asked me to forgive him," I replied shortly, not wanting to talk about _this_ subject again in the same day.

"And?" she asked expectantly, wanting more details than I was ready to give.

"And what?"

"And what did you say?"

"Nothing, I said nothing," I admitted.

"What? Why? Isn't that what you wanted? For him to understand why you did what you did? And for him to love you again?"

I sighed, not really knowing what to say. "Well, yes but..." I began, how could I tell her how I felt when I didn't even know myself?

"But what Mer?"

What was I thinking? The man I loved, and wanted to spend the rest of my life with, was asking me to forgive him because he didn't forgive me. Why was I even thinking about this?

"You're right," I said, finally coming to my senses. "I do love him, and he loves me. And if he has forgiven me, then I forgive him."

She smiled as she walked closer towards me. She didn't say anything else to me, just checked my pulse and wrote it down in my medical chart but she kept smiling at me the whole way, in a reassuring but also an I-told-you-so way.

Then she left the room, leaving me alone in my room again, I looked up to the clock to see that it was almost half past twelve.

Left with nothing to do but sit and stare at the walls around me, I picked up my pager that was on the table next to me hoping that it would start beeping; being in a hospital and not being able to work was awful. Eventually I got so desperate that I picked up my own chart and started reading through it seeing what the other doctors, my friends, had written.

All too soon I was caught as Bailey came in to check up on me to see how I was doing; she paused as she saw me reading my medical chart. "Meredith, what do you think you're doing?" she asked as she snatched it back off me. "You are a patient in a hospital, you need to rest."

I sighed as she started to flick through my chart. "Bailey, I have nothing to do. I've been sat here all morning. Just let me at least go and help in the clinic." I complained, even surprising myself when I offered to go to the clinic, usually that was the last place I wanted to be.

"No, stay here and get some sleep Meredith; you need to rest and you of all people should know that. You are a doctor after all. I have to go and check on another patient now, but would you like me to get you anything?" she asked.

"No thanks Bailey. Thanks for stopping by though," I said as she started to leave the room, leaving me to get some rest.

[ ]

**A/N: So yeah, hope you enjoyed it and please review Also thanks to Beth (LittleMiss543) for being my beta for all these chapters **


	12. I don't want to fight with you anymore

**A/N: So chapter 12. Hopefully this is the chapter you've all been waiting for. Sorry it took so long to get here, but I do love this chapter Hope you enjoy it and please review Thanks.**

_I don't want to fight with you anymore_

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My heart stopped as I read my pager; it was Meredith paging me to her room. I paused for a moment, unsure whether or not I should go, before making my way to the elevator.

"You paged," I said as I entered her room, trying to hide my nervousness.

She nodded in reply, looking just as nervous as me but I could see in her eyes that she knew what she wanted to say. "Look Derek, I don't want to make this anymore awkward than it already is, I don't want to fight with you anymore. I love you and I'm incomplete without you."

I smiled as she tried to get it all out in one breath, wanting to tell her to stop to take one but needing to hear what else she had to say.

"And then there's Zola," she continued after taking a quick breath. "Do you think we'll get Zola back? It's all my fault, if I'd been concentrating on driving then none of this would have happened," she admitted, tears threatening to fall.

"This is not your fault Meredith, we'll get Zola back don't worry," I reassured her as I started to climb into her bed. I curled my arms around her and clutched her close to my chest. I'd missed her so much.

"What about your trial?" she asked.

"You mean _our_ trial? We'll talk to the Chief about it. If we're lucky we can just forget about the data we collected in the last six weeks and they might let us continue with it," I said, hoping I was right.

We lay there in silence for a good ten minutes, before my pager started beeping.

"I have to go; my surgery has been pushed forward. I'll come back once I'm finished," I promised.

I gave her a kiss as I started to get up. She smiled back at me and ran her fingers through my hair. Finally I felt complete again. I gave her another kiss before leaving to prep my patient.

As I shut the door behind me, I saw Cristina passing by me. She was already back to work, just like I knew she would be.

She smiled at me, as if she knew what had just happened. I kept walking, but looked back to see that she had gone into Meredith's room. I smiled as I kept on walking to prep my patient.

[ ]

**A/N: Thanks for reading Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was so fun to write let me know what you think and review, thanks.**


	13. My whole life felt safer with him around

**A/N: So this is chapter 13 Hope you enjoy it, this is from Meredith's point of view, and please review sorry this one is so short I have some longer ones coming up soon :/**

_My whole life felt safer with him around_

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I felt so complete, so whole and so happy again. My whole life felt safer with him around.

I smiled to myself, hoping his surgery would be cancelled, or over soon so that he would be back soon. I heard someone come through the door; I didn't look to see who it was, instead I waited for them to speak just in case it was someone I didn't want to talk to.

"Wow," they said, instantly I knew it was Cristina and I sat up to talk to her. "McDreamy said it all!" she continued. "Well not literally, in fact he didn't even say a word, but I could tell."

I smiled again, not needing to say anything else to her - she already knew that we weren't fighting any more. "Do you think we'll get Zola back?" I asked, nervous that she might say no. I couldn't bear it if it was the truth.

"Yes, with Derek, definitely yes. He'll make sure you do, don't worry."

Again I smiled, I couldn't stop smiling.

"So have you told Owen that you didn't terminate the pregnancy yet?" I asked as she sat on the edge of my bed.

"Not yet, I think I'll tell him tonight."

I was surprised at her response. "Are you ready?" I asked.

"Well I haven't decided if I'm keeping it yet but I think I'm ready to talk it over properly with him. It seemed to work for you," she joked.

She didn't say much else after that, just twiddled with her thumbs until her pager went off.

"I have to go," she said as she read the pager. "I'm assisting Derek with his surgery, it got pushed forwards. I'll see you later," she said as she left the room.

That could've been my surgery, I thought to myself, instead I was stuck in a hospital bed with nothing to do.

[ ]

**A/N: Let me know what you thought and review thanks. Once again thanks so Beth (LittleMiss543) for being my beta **


	14. I'm working on it

**A/N: Chapter 14 It's from Derek's point of view. Hope you like it, and please review, it means the world to me **

_I'm working on it_

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"So I heard you're back with Meredith," Cristina said, coming to stand beside me as I started to scrub in.

"Yeah," I said, agreeing with her, a smile re-emerging on my face as she reminded me of what had just happened back in Meredith's hospital room. I was still unable to believe it had happened, I had honestly thought that we were breaking, that we were over, but now... Now everything was getting back on track.

"What about Zola?" She asked.

"I'm working on it," I replied. "How are things between you and Owen?" I asked her, wanting to change the subject so that I didn't have to talk about it just yet.

"I'm going to talk to him today about the baby, we need to talk things through together before I, _we_ make any decisions."

"So what are you thinking? Do you want to keep the baby?" I asked, wondering if I had gone too far.

She paused before replying; shocked at his question, but also thinking about what she actually wanted. "It's complicated, there are lots of things to consider," she admitted, drying off her hands and walking into the OR room so that she didn't have to talk about it anymore. I sighed, but soon followed her into the room to start my surgery.

[ ]

"How was your surgery?" Meredith asked as I entered the room, a few hours later.

"It was good, everything went according to plan," I said in reply, wanting to keep it short so that she didn't get too jealous. I climbed into the bed with her, curling up with her and wrapping my arms around her again. After lying there for a few minutes in silence, I shuffled around and lay on my back, inviting her to come and lie in my arms. She lay on my chest instead and I stroked her soft hair while she breathed softly.

I lay there in silence for another ten minutes just listening to her steady breathing. "I'm going to talk to the Chief today, about the trial," I announced.

She didn't reply. "We'll sort it out, don't worry," I added, but again she didn't reply.

I looked down at her to see if she was going to say anything. Her eyes were shut; she was asleep and hadn't even heard me. I lay there in silence just listening to her breathing until my pager went off again; it was the Chief.

Gently, I lifted her head off my chest and lay it back down on the pillow. I slowly climbed out of her bed and left the room quietly, hoping I hadn't woke her.

[ ]

**A/N: So yeah, hope you liked it and please review **


	15. Do you think she wants a ring?

**A/N: Chapter 15, I hope you like it it was one of my favourite chapters to write so far and is from Derek's point of view Anyway enjoy and please review thanks.**

_Do you think she wants a ring?_

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"You paged," I said as I entered the Chief's office, walking to stand in front of the desk which he was sat behind.

"Yes, we need to talk about your trial." He said.

"Right," I replied, dreading what was coming next.

"I've tried to think of another way around this but I'm going to have to send a report off to the FDA and we'll see what they say. Most likely they'll say you have to end the trial, but we'll keep our fingers crossed. I'm sorry Derek, I think I pressured Meredith into messing with the trial; she only wanted what was best for Adele."

"I know," I replied shortly, not wanting this conversation to go on any longer.

I left the room without saying anything else. My pager started beeping as I shut the door behind me; it was Cristina, our patient must have woken up.

As I was on my way up to my patient's room, I passed Meredith's room and looked in to see her fast asleep. I smiled as I kept on walking and got to my patient's room, Lara West. I saw Cristina inside, writing in Lara's medical chart.

"Good afternoon Lara," I greeted.

"Hey Doctor Shepherd."

"How are you feeling?"

"Good, I feel very tired though," she said in an anxious tone.

"That's perfectly normal," I said, trying to reassure her.

"Have you seen my husband? I haven't seen him since before the surgery."

"Don't worry, I'll get someone to go and find him now, and let him know you're awake."

"Thanks," she said as Cristina and I left the room.

I paused outside her room as Cristina handed in Lara's chart. "Do you think I should buy Meredith a wedding ring?" I asked.

She looked at me, confused at the randomness of the question. "Yeah, I guess..."

"You guess? Do you think she wants a ring?"

"I guess..." she said.

"Ok, well don't say anything to her about this conversation but I think I'm going to buy us wedding rings."

"Ok," she said as she walked off and left me on my own.

[ ]

It was coming up to seven o'clock now, and having been out of the hospital all day, I decided to go and see Meredith. I took the stairs up to her floor and headed straight to her room.

"Hey," I said as I entered her room to find her asleep.

"Hey," she said, slowly waking up. "Where've you been?"

"I've been out buying wedding rings," I said as I sat on the edge of her bed.

Her face looked confused as I got two small boxes out of my pocket. I gave her one box and I opened the other. She didn't say anything, but I took it as a good sign and continued. I took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her ring finger; it was a platinum ring with a diamond encrusted in the middle. It was simple, but that's what she liked.

She smiled as I looked up after putting the ring on her finger. She then opened up the box on her lap to find another ring. She took it out of the box, slipped it on my finger and continued to smile back at me. I leaned in to kiss her soft lips and stroke her hair. She put her arms around my neck as I continued to kiss her.

This should have happened days ago, we should've gotten rings instead of fighting. But it hadn't, it had taken us just a little longer just like always. And once again, I didn't care. It had happened now and that's all that mattered.

We were soon interrupted by my pager going off. We broke apart reluctantly so I could look at it to see that it was Owen paging me to ER.

"I've got to go, looks like there might be some ambulances coming in. I'll see you later."

"Ok," she said as I left the room.

I headed straight to the ER to talk to Owen, hoping I wouldn't be gone too long and could get back to Meredith as soon as possible.

[ ]

**A/N: Hope you liked it, please review! Thanks**


	16. You need to follow your heart

**A/N: Sorry I haven't uploaded in so long, I've had a busy few weeks, but I hope to update more frequently now. This chapter is from Meredith's point of view and I hope you enjoy it Please review ;) thanks.**

_You need to follow your heart_

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I lay there for a good few minutes, sitting alone in silence just staring at my ring; the diamond sparkled in the light as I lay there twisting it in different directions. Soon enough Lexie interrupted my silence by bursting in through my door and picking up my chart.

"Is it true?" she asked, with excitement on her face not really paying attention to what she read.

"Is what true?" I asked, confused at what she was talking about.

"Derek has a ring on his finger; I just saw it, do you…?" A smile spread across her face as she looked down to my left hand and saw the ring on my finger.

"Do you like it?" I asked, hoping she would instantly answer yes.

"It's beautiful Mer. When did you get it?"

"He surprised me with it ten minutes ago, he came in here and pulled out two boxes from his pocket; a ring for me and a ring for him," I said as she stared into my eyes as if I was telling a fairytale.

"Just like that? You didn't know anything about this before?"

"Nope, nothing at all."

"Wow," she said. "Did he pick that ring out for you on his own? It's so perfect."

"Yeah, it is. I guess he just knows what I like," I said as a smiled spread across my face, admiring the ring once again. The smile soon spread onto Lexie's face as well, while we sat there talking.

"So, how are things between you and Jackson?" I asked, hoping she would be comfortable talking to me about him.

"He's fine, you know," she replied quickly.

"Fine? What's wrong?" I asked, automatically sensing something was off.

"He's just not… He's just fine."

"You mean he's just not Mark? You know Mark really did love you, and he still does," I said, hoping she was able to talk to me about Mark as well.

She didn't say anything at first. She just sat on the edge of my bed, starting to twiddle her hair around her fingers. "I love Mark, and I know I do, it's just... now he's got Sofia. He has to help look after her with Callie and Arizona, there just isn't room for me."

"Maybe not at this moment," I said, trying to convince her that she was meant to be with Mark. "The baby is new right now, everyone's excited, soon they'll get a schedule together and Mark might have her every other week, or just every other weekend; you need to talk to him about how it's going to work. If you think you still love Mark, then don't let him slip away."

She nodded as she wiped a stray tear from her cheek. I handed her a tissue as I kept talking. "Look Lexie, I'm sure Jackson is a great guy, but if Mark is the one you love then you need to follow your heart before it's too late."

"I know, I'm going to talk to Mark today; see what he's thinking and ask him about Sofia. I just don't want to ruin Sofia's relationship with her father."

"Sofia is a lovely baby Lexie, you'll soon love her and realise that it's not a problem having her around. She'll become part of your family," I said, hoping I was right.

She nodded as she got up to leave. "Thanks for your advice Mer, you've really helped me figure things out." I smiled back at her as she left the room, and I looked down towards my ring, to admire it once again.

[ ]

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it Please review. **


	17. What are you thinking about?

**A/N: Chapter 17 This one is from Derek's point of view. Hope you enjoy it. Please review, it shows me how many people are reading it and makes me want to write more. Thanks **

_What are you thinking about?_

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"You paged?" I asked as I caught sight of Owen in the ER.

"Yeah, there are a couple of ambulances coming in; there's been a fire in a block of flats, they're 5 minutes away. We don't know what state they're in though so I'm paging everyone down here, just to be safe," he said, while looking around to see if anyone else had arrived yet.

"I just saw Lexie walking the other way. Shall I page her to the ER?" I asked, trying to be helpful.

"No, I'm not paging all the residents; we don't want it to be too crowded. I've paged Yang, Avery, Karev and Kepner."

"OK," I said, while walking over to the entrance to wait for the ambulances to arrive, where the Chief was stood.

"Dr Shepherd," the Chief said as I walked over towards him.

"Chief," I greeted, with a small smile.

"I've written you a report on your trial, just thought I should let you know that I will be posting it off to the FDA first thing tomorrow morning."

I nodded in reply, not wanting to talk about this any more; I just wanted the whole situation to be solved, I was sick of hearing about it.

Luckily the conversation was cut short by the noise of sirens getting closer. Cristina and April joined the Chief and I outside as the ambulances began to pull up.

"I have a thirty-two year old male, his name is Michael File," the paramedic announced as she opened the back doors of the ambulance. "He's suffering from a bad headache and shortness of breath, which is probably due to smoke inhalation. He has burns up his right arm and down his right leg." She kept talking as we pushed him through into ER one. "His throat looks as though it is starting to swell, also due to the smoke inhalation."

"Right," I said, taking over as the paramedic left to go back to the ambulance. I took out a torch from my pocket and looked in his throat. "OK Mr. File, we are going to have to intubate you, to help you breath, just hold still."

[ ]

It was well past 11 o'clock and my shift was supposed to have ended over three hours ago. There wasn't much point in going home when Meredith was still in the hospital so I decided to sleep in an on call room, not wanting to disturb her. As I headed to the on call room I passed her room, looking in briefly to see that she was still awake. I soon changed my mind about the on call room and entered into her room instead.

"You're still up," I pointed out, wondering what was keeping her awake.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. So I decided to sit up in my bed and just think," she replied.

"Think? What are you thinking about?" I asked, hoping nothing was troubling her.

"It took us a long time to get together, we were on and off for quite a while but do you think we knew we would end up here? Married and hoping to adopt a baby?" she asked. I could see the vulnerability in her eyes and I just hoped I would say the right thing for her.

"I knew I wouldn't let you go without a fight. I hoped we would get to this stage, I dreamed of this stage," I admitted as I got into her bed.

She smiled as I curled my arms around her and kissed her forehead. "Any news on Zola?" she asked.

"Not yet, I'm going to go and see them about it tomorrow," I said. From the corner of my eye I saw a tear run down her cheek. I didn't say anything; instead I just wiped it away with the corner of my sleeve. "It's going to be all right Mer, I'll sort it out," I promised.

We didn't say anything else that night; she quickly fell asleep with her head resting on my chest. I wrapped my arm around her and held onto her shoulder, clutching her close to me.

[ ]

**A/N: Thanks for reading Please review! It means so much **


	18. Clever thinking

**A/N: Chapter 18, this is from Meredith's point of view. I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think by reviewing. Thanks **

_Clever thinking_

[ ]

I woke up to the sun creeping in through my window; I was still lying on Derek's chest and he was still fast asleep. It was already pretty light in my room and just like normal I could see the hospital was already alive with doctors.

"Derek," I said as I sat up in bed.

He mumbled in reply, to let me know that he was listening. I took a quick look at the clock on my bedside table and saw that it was already coming up to eight o'clock.

"Derek," I said a little louder, hoping he would open his eyes and wake up properly. "It's practically eight o'clock already," I added.

"What?" he said as he jumped out of bed.

"You're late for rounds," I reminded him.

"Late? I think I'm a bit more than late, rounds will be well over by now," he said. "It's fine; I'll check the surgery board and go find April."

"April?" I asked, confused. "Why April?"

"She's chief resident now, and she won't remind anyone I missed rounds."

"Clever thinking," I said as a cheeky smile spread across his face.

"You think it'll work?"

"Yeah, of course. You're practically her boss; she's not going to tell on her boss."

"You're right, it was clever thinking," he said as he gave me a quick kiss and ran out the door.

[ ]

I knew I was supposed to be discharged today and hoped it would be soon; it was already half past twelve and so far my day had consisted of nothing other than sitting alone in my room, with the odd visit from Cristina or Derek. I couldn't wait to get out of the hospital; I wanted to go home and lie in bed with a good book and a hot water bottle.

I couldn't wait until I could go to our proper home and have to wake up in the middle of the night because Zola was crying. It sounded stupid but that's what being a mum is like, and I couldn't wait to get Zola home and be a mother to her. Of course that is if we ever got Zola home; at this rate, thanks to me, we might not get her back.

By one o'clock I was sick of waiting so I picked up my pager to page Cristina. It didn't take her long to get to my room, as the hospital wasn't very busy.

"Hey Mer," she said as she entered my room. "How are you feeling?"'

"I'm fine," I replied as she picked up my chart. "I'm supposed to be discharged today though," I reminded her, hoping she would discharge me.

"Yeah, but once you're discharged you won't be back in the hospital for another six weeks, so I'm not discharging you. Plus you're my most interesting patient today. I haven't had a surgery in two days and I'm bored of waiting."

"What about the fire that came in last night?" I asked.

"Nah, there was nothing interesting, there was only one surgery and Jackson got it."

"Oh," I said, not knowing how to cheer her up. "Well if I got into surgery, I'll make sure you get to scrub in." She smiled as she put down my chart and came to sit on my bed. "Have you seen your OBGYN yet?" I asked, hoping everything was all right with the baby.

"No, I had to cancel my appointment but I've booked another one for tomorrow," she said.

"Let me know how it goes," I said. "If there are any problems that they can't fix, I'll call Addy," I said, not wanting to risk anything with this baby.

"Right, so having just got back together with your husband, you are threatening to call his ex-wife."

"It's not like that Cristina. Derek would do anything to help your baby. Plus he's on good terms with Addison, they still get on." I assured her, hoping I was right.

"OK, thanks Mer," she said as she got up. "I'm off to see if anything interesting has come in, page me if you need anything," she said as she started to leave my room.

"If you see Derek, will you tell him to come and see me when he gets a chance," I called as she closed the door behind her.

[ ]

**A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review **


	19. I'm a surgeon remember

**A/N: Chapter 19 So this is from Derek's point of view. Hope you like it. Enjoy and please review **

_I'm a surgeon in a hospital remember?_

[ ]

"Hey," I said as I entered Meredith's room. "Christina said you wanted to see me."

"Yeah, are you busy?" she asked.

"No, I'm not busy, I'm just about to have lunch," I said. "Shall I go get my lunch from the cafeteria and bring it here to eat with you?" I asked, knowing she needed some company.

"Yeah, that would be great," she replied as a smile stretched across her face.

"I'll be back in a minute," I promised as I left her room again. I headed straight to the cafeteria, not wanting to waste any time. I promptly picked up a salad and some fruit, and paid at the desk. I then hurried off as quickly as possible.

I was back at Meredith's room within 5 minutes of leaving; when I entered her room I noticed a tray of food on her table in front of her, the nurses had probably been by with patients' lunches.

"Hey," I said as I sat down next to her.

"Hey," she replied. "Had a good day so far?"

"Yeah, it's not very busy though and I don't have many surgeries today but I've been helping out in the ER most of the morning, stitching up patients, you know," I said, not wanting to make it sound very exciting. "Anyway, why did you want to see me?" I asked as I started to open my salad.

"Oh right, yeah well Cristina has her appointment with her OBYGN tomorrow and I said to her that if anything was wrong with the baby she should let me know and then I'll call Addison. But she said you might be annoyed if I called your ex-wife so I just wanted to clear it with you. You wouldn't be annoyed with me, would you? I just want the best for Cristina and her baby."

"Of course I wouldn't mind Meredith, Addison is one of the best in the world at her specialty. If it means that Cristina and her baby are under less risk I would be more than happy to call up Addison myself and ask her to come back to Seattle to check on her. And we're on good terms, its not like we don't get on," I said, hoping for the baby's sake that it would never get to this.

"OK," she said, looking relieved.

"Just let me know if I need to call her," I said, knowing how important this baby was to Meredith. She nodded back at me as I put my food down and got into her bed beside her. "You know I'd do anything to help Cristina and her baby, but don't worry about it, I'm sure that it will be fine." I curled my arms around her and clutched her to my chest.

We lay there in silence for the whole of my lunch break but I soon realised it was past two o'clock now and I had to go and scrub in for a surgery. "Sorry Meredith, I have a surgery now, I'll come back later once its finished," I said as I got out of her bed.

"A surgery?" she asked.

"Yes Meredith, I'm a surgeon in a hospital remember? I have a surgery," I joked.

"Yeah I know. Do you need a resident to scrub in with you?"

"Well, I guess I could use one. Why?" I asked, hoping she didn't mean she wanted to scrub in.

"Cristina really needs a surgery. Please Derek?" she asked.

"OK, I'll page her now," I said, hoping I would get a chance to talk to Cristina about the baby at the same time. "If anyone tries to discharge you today, tell them you have a fever. One more night in the hospital won't hurt."

She smiled at me as I left her room and closed the door behind me.

[ ]

**A/N: Thanks for reading Please review.**


	20. Trust me I have a fever

**A/N: So this is chapter 20 from Meredith's point of view. I hope you enjoy it, it's quite long. Also just to let you know this fic is going to be a total of 27 chapters. Anyway I hope you like it Please review**

_Trust me I have a fever_

[ ]

"Morning Meredith," Lexie said as she entered my room.

"Hey Lexie," I said, as I sat up in my bed.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Fine, still a slight fever though," I lied, not knowing whether Derek wanted me to be discharged today or not.

"A fever? Oh. When did the fever start?" she asked. "Let me take your temperature," she insisted as she walked over to me.

"Yesterday afternoon. But trust me I have a fever, no need to waste a thermometer when I already know what it will say."

"Right," she said, looking at me confused. "So you don't want me to discharge you today?"

"No," I said as I shook my head.

"OK," she said, still confused as to why I wanted to stay in the hospital.

"So did you talk to Mark?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, we're going to try again. Take it a bit slower this time and see if it works out," she admitted, a smile emerging on her face which assured me she was happy about it.

"What about Jackson?" I asked.

"I've already talked to Jackson, he's a great guy you know, I just told him he wasn't my guy," she said, as she sat on the side of my bed.

"Well, if this is what you want Lexie then you're doing the right thing," I reassured her.

"I know," she said as she got up again. "Thanks Meredith."

I nodded in reply at her as she left my room. It wasn't long before Derek came back into my room to check that Lexie hadn't discharged me.

"Hey," he said as he picked up my medical chart. "How are you feeling the morning?"

"I have a slight fever still," I said while he flicked through my chart.

"Good, well I'm afraid Meredith Grey if this continues then we are going to have to keep you in the hospital again over night."

I smiled as he got into my bed and once again curled his arms around me. "So I'm going to go and talk to social services today, explain what happened and hope they'll give us Zola back," he said.

"OK," I said simply, not wanting to get my hopes up in case we didn't get her back.

"I'll fight for her Meredith; I don't care what it takes. Just trust me I will do everything and anything I can to get her back," he reassured me.

I nodded, knowing he meant what he said. "What about Cristina?" I asked. "Do you know what time her appointment is today?"

"Yeah, it's early this morning. Around nine o'clock I think," he replied.

"OK, if you see her will you remind her to come and see me _straight_ after her appointment?"

"Of course," he said as his pager went off. "It's Mark. I have to go. I'll come and check in on you later and don't let anyone discharge you today.

_One _more night won't hurt," he said as he left my room and closed the door behind him.

[ ]

It was coming up to ten o'clock now and Cristina still hadn't come to see me and tell me how her appointment went, so I decided to page her. She soon came to my room and started flicking through my medical chart.

"You have a fever?" she asked as she read it off my chart.

"No, not really it's just to stop them discharging me. Derek wants to keep me in the hospital as long as possible. Anyway how was the appointment with your OBYGN?" I asked, hoping she would talk to me about it.

"Not so good," she admitted.

Instantly I started worrying. "Why? Is there something wrong with the baby?"

"Not so much the baby. I have appendicitis, an infection in my appendix. They want to get me into surgery as soon as possible," she explained after putting my chart down.

"Well are there any risks to the surgery?" I asked, hoping there wouldn't be any risks, but knowing this wasn't possible.

"There are always risks Mer, but as surgeries go it's pretty simple."

"Well it good that we caught it early, right?" I asked, realising that I probably should know that.

"Yeah, by catching it early we reduced the risk of pre-term labour."

"I'll call Addison, I'm sure she'll come over and do the surgery for you," I said, not wanting to take any risks with anyone else.

"Honestly Mer, it's a simple surgery I really don't need her."

"No Cristina look, I don't care what you say I have to call Addison, she's the best at what she does and there's no point taking risks when we know she will do the surgery for you."

Cristina sighed but was too tired to argue with me and knew there wasn't much point anyway. "OK," she sighed. "But if she's busy don't force her to come to Seattle just for my surgery." Once I promised her that I wouldn't, she soon left my room as her pager went off. I sat there dreaming of being back in the OR, I hadn't had a surgery in such a long time.

[ ]

"Hey," Derek said as he entered my room once again.

I had already fallen asleep not long after Cristina left. "What's the time?" I asked as he walked over to my bed.

"Coming up to eleven o'clock. Have you been asleep all morning?" he asked.

"No, Cristina came in at around 10; I must have fallen asleep soon after she left," I explained.

"Oh, how did her appointment go?"

"Not so well, her appendix is infected and they want to take her into surgery as soon as possible to fix it. They say it's good that they caught it early but she needs an appendectomy as soon as possible to minimise pre-term labour."

Derek sighed as he sat down on my bed and put his head in his hands. "Are there risks?"

"Like she said to me earlier, its surgery of course there are risks, but the risks are low."

He nodded in reply, not really knowing what to say. I knew he didn't think it would get to this stage, I knew he didn't expect to have to call in Addison. "Do we need to call Addison then?" he asked.

"I don't want to take any risks Derek. I just know that if something went wrong with another surgeon, I would blame myself for not asking Addison to do it. Derek she's the best as what she does, you said that yourself."

"I know," he said. "I'll talk to the Chief today and make sure it's OK for Addison to come over and perform the surgery."

"OK, thanks," I said, glad that he was happy to call Addison. "Did you go and see social services?" I asked, hoping he had an idea on what would happen to Zola.

"Yeah, I talked to them and explained the situation. They said that they are going to have a meeting tomorrow and they'll let us know first thing tomorrow morning," he said.

Surely this was a good thing; they said they'd let us know in the morning. They hadn't said no, they just needed to discuss it. That must be a good thing, right?

"Thanks Derek," I said.

"It wasn't anything to do with me Meredith. It's my fault they took her away to begin with. I just explained what had happened." I knew it wasn't his fault; I was the one that got distracted on the road and crashed the car, but I didn't want to argue with him so I kept quiet. "I'll go talk to the chief now about Addison and I'll come back later once I know whether it's possible. Don't let anyone discharge you if you can help it," he said as he gave me a kiss. He winked at me as he left my room and I slowly drifted off back to sleep.

[ ]

**A/N: Thanks for reading Please review.**


	21. They're kicking her off the trial

**A/N: So this is the next chapter. It's from Derek's point of view. Hope you like it and please review Thanks.**

_They're kicking her off the trial_

[ ]

Having not had a chance to stop for lunch yet I was walking over the bridge to the Chief's office. It was coming up to half past two and he had paged me to his office only five minutes ago. I knocked on the door and entered as I heard him call "Come in" from the other side.

"You paged," I said as I walked into his office and towards his desk.

"Yes, sit down," he said. "So I heard back from the FDA. They called me this morning and basically said that they understand the situation Meredith was put in," he explained, as I sat down.

I sighed in relief, hoping this was a good thing but knowing that it could also lead to Meredith getting kicked off the trial. "However," he continued. "They don't think that as a trained doctor she should ever bring her personal life into work."

_"I knew it; they're kicking her off the trial_,_" _I thought to myself. The Chief paused as I buried my head in my hands and brushed my fingers through my hair.

"It's not what you're thinking Derek; they haven't kicked her off the trial, what they've said is that you have to erase all the data you collected in the last eight weeks. Also they said that Adele must be taken off the trial and it is forbidden that you have any relationship to any off your future and current patients," he said.

"So we can continue the trial?" I asked, just to be sure.

"Yes, but Derek if I find any more patients on your list that you or Meredith have some kind of relationship to then I will stop the trial myself," he said.

"Yes, I'm sorry about Adele sir."

"You have nothing to be sorry for Derek; I shouldn't have forced you into putting Adele on the trial."

I nodded as I got up from my seat, the relief of knowing that we could continue our trial together made me smile. "Thank you sir."

He smiled at me as he got out of his chair as well. "So how's Meredith doing, I heard she has a fever and is still in the hospital?"

"Oh right, yes her fever. She's ok, I think they are just keeping her in the hospital just to make sure everything is fine but she's recovering well. She still has a cast on her arm but that won't be removed for at least another four or five weeks."

"Good, good."

"Oh, but there was one thing she wanted me to ask you. I don't know if you know, but Cristina is pregnant."

"Oh right, does she want some time off? Is she not feeling well?"

"No, it's not that. Well actually I guess it kind of is that. Basically she has an infection in her appendix and they want to get her into surgery as soon as possible. But Meredith is worried about the surgery and was wondering if you wouldn't mind Addison coming over to do the surgery?"

"Derek I'm sure our surgeons are perfectly able to perform the surgery. It's a fairly simple procedure," he said.

"I know sir, but Meredith is reluctant to let anyone else do it. During the shooting she had a miscarriage and lost her baby, she just doesn't want Cristina to have to go through what she went through."

"But it's too expensive Derek; I can't afford to pay her or to fly her out," he said.

"I will pay her and fly her out. Richard please."

"Fine, but only if it's OK with Addison, don't force her into anything she doesn't want to do."

"Of course. Thanks," I said as I left his office.

I sighed in relief, knowing that Cristina would be in the best hands during her surgery. I just hoped Addison would agree to do it.

[ ]

**A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review **


	22. Yes, ten o'clock

**A/N: Chapter 22, not many more chapters to go anyway it's from Meredith's point of view, please review **

_Yes, ten o'clock_

[ ]

Having claimed to have a fever for the last couples of days, just to stay in the hospital for a few extra nights, I decided that I was determined to get out the hospital this morning. I had woken up late, compared to the last couple of days, it was just passed eight o'clock and I could see the nurses outside delivering breakfast to the patients. I knew that Derek hadn't gone home last night, as he was on call and had a surgery scheduled to go late into the night. He obviously slept in an on call room when given the chance, not wanting to disturb me in the middle of the night. We were supposed to hear back from social services this morning, so I started to gather up my things hoping that I could go and see Zola if I wasn't allowed to take her home.

"Good morning," Derek greeted as he came into my room.

"Hey, did you get much sleep last night?" I asked.

"A couple of hours, not much. But I've had some coffee, so I'll be good until lunch at least."

"Good," I said. "Did you manage to go and see the Chief yesterday?"

"Yeah," he said as he sat down on the side of my bed. "He had news about our trial. It's good news, they're letting us continue with it."

A smile instantly spread across my face and then across his. "Is that all? Don't we have to erase some data."

"Yeah, that's the one problem. We have to delete all data collected in the last eight weeks, and Adele has been removed from the trial."

"Oh no. So Adele won't get any more treatment?"

"Not from our trial I'm afraid. Sorry but overall Meredith we were very lucky to be allowed to keep the trial."

"Yeah, your right. Thanks Derek," I said, grateful that they hadn't kicked me off the trial.

"Did you ask him about Addison," I asked.

"Yes, he was a bit reluctant at first though. However, if we can pay to fly her out, and pay her for her work then he has agreed to let her perform the surgery. That is providing that she agrees to do it and isn't busy."

I let out a sigh of relief, knowing that Cristina was in the best hands took a big weight off my shoulder. "Thanks Derek," I said as I leaned in to kiss him, my lips touch is soft lips. I ran my fingers through his soft hair and pulled him in closer. His phone started ringing as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He took his phone out his pocket to see who it was.

"It's social services," he said as he pulled away. "They'll be calling about Zola."

My heart started to race and butterflies started fluttering in my stomach.

"Hello," he answered, lifting the phone to his ear. "Yes this is Derek Shepherd... OK... Yes... Of course... Ten o'clock... OK... Thank you... Goodbye." He hung up the phone and sat back down on the edge of my bed. His face lit up with excitement. "Ten o'clock."

"We can take her home?" I asked.

"Yes, ten o'clock."

This was it, we could finally take Zola home, _together_. "But I am too busy to take the day off work today. We can go and collect her together, but you will have to stay at home with her on your own today. I'll come home as soon as possible, and ask the Chief if I can have a day off this week."

"OK," I said, not really knowing what to say as it still all felt like a dream.

"Shall I come by at ten then and we'll go collect her, then I'll drop you home with Zola?"

"OK," I repeated, still not really knowing what to say.

"I'll send someone to discharge you at nine and see you at ten."

"OK," I said again.

"I can't believe she's coming home," he said as he started to leave my room.

I smiled, none of this felt real, although I was sure it all would as soon as she was in my arms. "See you at ten," I said as he left my room, closing the door behind himself.

[ ]

**A/N: Thanks for reading Please review**


	23. I'd be happy to help out

**A/N: Chapter 23: Hope you like it From Derek's point of view. Please review.**

_I'd be happy to help out_

[ ]

It was coming up to nine o'clock now and I thought I should phone Addison before picking up Zola. I went into an on call room to get some privacy and dialled her number.

"Hello," I heard someone say as the rings stopped and someone picked up the phone at the other end.

"Addy?" I said, as I recognised her voice.

"Derek?" she asked.

"Yeah, hey Addison. How's LA?"

"Well, it's all good, less rain, still rain but less rain than Seattle."

"Ha ha," I said, Addison never liked the rain in Seattle or New York.

"Why did you call?" she asked.

"I have a favour to ask you."

"Of course, anything for you Derek."

"Well Cristina's pregnant,"

"Cristina Yang?" she asked, obviously surprised.

"Yep," I confirmed.

"Really. Wow," she said.

"I know she's not the type that looks like she would have kids but I think she's going to make a really good mom you know."

"Yeah, how about you and Meredith. I heard you guys are adopting?"

"Yes, we're adopting an adorable baby called Zola; we're taking her home today in fact."

"Oh, that sounds great. I'm happy for you Derek. Anyway you said you needed a favour?"

"Yes, there's a problem with Cristina's baby. It's nothing too major but Meredith would really appreciate it if you did the surgery for Cristina."

"Yeah sure, I'd be happy to help out."

"That's great thanks Addison."

I quickly explained to her that Cristina had an infection in her appendix, she instantly knew what I meant and how to solve it. She agreed to get on a flight that evening and arrive in Seattle at around one in the morning. I offered to pick her up from the airport and drop her at her hotel but she insisted she'd be fine in a taxi.

"Thanks Addison."

"It's fine Derek honestly. It will be nice to catch up with people anyway. If I arrive I Seattle tomorrow will the surgery be tomorrow?"

"No, I've booked an OR for the following day."

"OK, maybe I'll go and see Meredith tomorrow afternoon then? Will she be at home with Zola?"

"Yeah, I'm sure she'd love for you to pop in."

"OK, well I'll see you soon Derek."

"Yeah, see you soon Addison," I said as I hung up the phone.

[ ]

**A/N: Thanks for reading Please review**


	24. He smiled as he set eyes on Zola

**A/N: Chapter 24: Hope you like it, it's from Meredith's point of view. Please review **

_He smiled as he set eyes on Zola_

[ ]

Having just had my first proper day with Zola, I was completely worn out. It was hard enough just looking after her but with one arm in a cast, it made it twice as hard.

Nevertheless I managed to get through the day on my own and had just put her in her crib. She looked as though she had already fallen asleep so I got in a quick bath for a few minutes of relaxation and then got into bed. As I was sitting up in bed I heard Derek come through the front door. "Hey Lexie," he said as he entered the house. "Was Meredith all right today with Zola?" he asked her.

"Yeah I went up to see her earlier and they seem to be getting along well," Lexie replied.

I sighed in relief having heard that Lexie thought I did a good job. I heard Derek dump his keys down in the kitchen and then head upstairs to our bedroom. "Hey Meredith," he greeted as he entered our room.

"Hey," I said, smiling at him.

"How's Zola?"

"She's fine, I just put her down in her crib half an hour ago and I think she's asleep," I said.

He peered over to look in the crib that was at the end of our bed and smiled as he set eyes on Zola fast asleep.

"I talked to the Chief today and I have to go into work tomorrow but the following day I can have off. Also I phoned Addison," he began. "She's getting on a flight to Seattle tonight and is going to get a taxi from the airport to her hotel. Then she's going to visit you with Zola tomorrow and she will perform Cristina's surgery the following day."

"Right," I said. "Thank you Derek."

He started to unbutton his shirt as he sat on the edge of our bed. "It's good to be home," I added.

"Yeah," he said as he quickly slipped on a soft T-shirt. He then changed out of his trousers and into some pyjama bottoms, and got into bed beside me. "This is it Meredith. The start of our family, once we move into our new house everything will be complete."

"Yeah," I said as I snuggled up close to him. "This is the start of our journey as a family."

[ ]

**A/N: Thanks for reading Please review**


	25. She's beautiful

**A/N: Chapter 25, only 2 more chapters after this one Anyway it's from Meredith's point of view. Hope you like it and please review **

_She's beautiful_

[ ]

It was my second day with Zola now and Derek had already gone off to work. I'd dressed Zola and myself, and was waiting for the doorbell to ring as I was expecting Addison. It wasn't long before the door bell startled me as I was heading to the kitchen with Zola. I could see through the glass that it was Addison so I quickly went to open the door to let her in.

"Hey Addison," I greeted her as I gave her a hug.

"Hey Meredith, and is this Zola?" she asked as she saw me holding Zola.

"Yes, Zola say hello to Addison," I said, while stroking Zola's cheek.

"Hey Zola," she said with excitement as we headed into the lounge. "What happened to your arm?" she asked as she saw my cast.

"Oh, it's a long story. It's fine though, I just have to keep this cast on for five weeks. It gets in the way sometimes but I manage."

"I bet it gets in the way, surely that means no surgeries for at least five weeks."

"Yeah, but you know it means I get to spend time at home with Zola so I don't mind," I said, not really believing that I was so calm with no surgeries. "So how was your flight last night?"

"Yeah it was fine thanks."

"Good," I said. "Do you want some coffee, or something else to drink?" I asked as we sat down on the couch.

"Some coffee would be great thanks."

"OK, will you hold Zola for a minute?" I asked.

"Sure," she said as she took Zola from my arms. "She's beautiful."

After coming back from the kitchen with the coffee, we talked about Cristina and her baby. We chatted for a good few hours, not just about Cristina but about everything else as well. She soon looked at her watch and realised what time it was. "Wow its half past one already?" she said.

"Wow," I repeated as I looked down at my watch.

"I must go to the hospital, I have a few things to clear with the chief before tomorrow," she said as she stood up. "Thanks for the coffee Meredith, it was nice catching up with you."

"You too Addison, see you later," I said as I directed her to the door.

[ ]

By eight o'clock I had managed to feed Zola and myself, as well as bath Zola, ready for bed. I let her fall asleep in my arms and then put her in her crib and went downstairs to watch some T.V. I was startled again by the noise of the doorbell. "Someone must have forgotten their keys," I thought to myself. Reluctantly I got up to go and answer the door and saw that it was Cristina. "Cristina?" I asked as I opened the door, wondering why she was here.

"I came to see how you were with Zola."

"Oh right," I said. "She's asleep upstairs right now but things are good. Come in," I said. We went into lounge and sat down on the sofa. "Addison came over earlier," I said, breaking the silence. "She flew in last night."

"Oh right. Yeah I saw her at the hospital today."

We sat there talking about the surgery for an hour. She kept telling me it wasn't necessary that I called Addison, but I told her she was here now so she might as well do it. At around nine o'clock Lexie came in and Cristina left. I went upstairs to check on Zola, and decided to have an early night, hoping Derek would be home soon.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading Please review**


	26. Anytime

**A/N: Chapter 26, hope you like it It's from Derek's point of view, and please review.**

_Anytime_

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I'd come into work early to see Cristina before she was prepped for her surgery. The chief said I could come in midday if I wanted to spend the morning with Zola, but Meredith wanted me to see Cristina before her surgery as the chief wouldn't allow her to.

"Hey," I said as I entered Cristina's room.

"Hey," she said as I picked up her chart.

"Is someone coming to prep you?" I asked.

"Yeah, someone is supposed to be coming in ten minutes."

"Good, hopefully the surgery will only take a couple of hours."

"OK, is Meredith here?" she asked.

"No, Chief wouldn't let here come and see you, sorry, she's at home with Zola."

"Right, of course, Zola. Thanks for stopping by Derek."

"No problem, I'll come back once the surgery is over."

"OK," she said as I left the room.

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I watched the surgery from the gallery; everything went as planned and Addison did a great job. Once the surgery was finished I went straight down to Cristina's room, so that I was there for when she woke up. "Hey," Addison said as she came in to check on Cristina.

"Addison," I said as I got up to greet her with a hug. "Thanks so much, you did a great job. It means so much to Meredith."

"It was no problem Derek honestly, any time," she said as she smiled at me.

It didn't take long for Cristina to wake up. "Hey," I said as she opened her eyes.

"Hey, how did the surgery go?" she asked, still groggy from the medication wearing off.

"Everything went according to plan. Hopefully you will be discharged tomorrow morning."

"Good, I can't wait to get back to work," she said.

I laughed at how dedicated she was to her job. "I have to go and prep a patient for a surgery now, but page me if you need anything," I said.

"Thanks Derek, and if you see Addison will you thank her for me?"

"Sure," I said as I left the room.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading Please review**


	27. This is it

**A/N: So this is the last chapter, so sad that this is the end :'(, but I have a few people to thank before you read the last chapter. **

**Firstly thanks so much to anyone that has read this story, anyone that has reviewed it, added it to their favourites or added it to their alert list. Also thank you to any silent readers. **

**And I couldn't have done this without 'LittleMiss543', so a HUGE thank you to her. She's helped me edit every single chapter and also helped me with some of the story lines. So THANK YOU!**

**Also thank you to 'CileSuns92' for your inspiration, and anyone else who has helped me out along the way. And thank you to 'McGreys-Kimmy' for her awesome comments on my blog (message me if you want the link to it) and for sharing my story with her friends. **

**I think that's about it, sorry it's so long but it wouldn't haven't been possible without any of these people, even the readers, no point in posting a story if no one's reading it. So thank you EVERYONE. Keep checking my profile for a new, original, murder mystery story coming soon. Enjoy the last chapter from Derek's point of view, and if you get a chance please review. Thanks so much! **

_This is it_

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I had come home early that night. I went into Cristina's room on my way out to check she was still OK, and then I headed home at around seven o'clock. I got home to find Meredith feeding Zola at the kitchen table.

"Hey," I said as I came through the door.

"Hey, you're early," she noted, a smile spreading across her face.

"Yeah, I wanted to surprise my two girls," I said as I walked over to give them both a kiss.

"How was Cristina's surgery?" she asked.

"Everything went well. I talked to her after she woke up and she sounded good, looks like everything is going to be OK."

"Good, thanks for everything Derek."

"This is it Meredith. This is our family and this is the beginning of our family journey together. Once our house is finished we'll move in, and everything will be perfect."

She smiled back at me and giggled a bit too.

"This is it," she agreed.

"And then time will fly by and before we know it Zola will be off to school, and we'll be proper parents, having to pick her up from the school gates. It's going to be an exciting ride. There will be some ups and downs as expected but overall it will all be worth it, and I can't believe we are just getting started."

"It's going to be great Derek. Being a proper family all together," she said.

"Yeah," I replied. "It's going to be great."

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**A/N: Thanks for reading. Review if you can **


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